After decades of working his way up the ranks of the basketball world, Nick Nurse has his dream job.

On Thursday afternoon, he will officially become an NBA head coach when the Raptors present him as the ninth bench boss in franchise history.

The challenge of succeeding likely NBA coach of the year Dwane Casey — who led the club to a team-record 59 wins in 2017-18 — and finding a way to move the Raptors forward in the playoffs, will be immense. The hard work in starting that journey begins now.

Here’s a look at five things Nurse will must do, beginning with one that is already underway:

1. Find and bring his assistant coaches on board

Nurse will need a lead assistant, likely one focusing on defence, as well as several other assistants for his bench. Rex Kalamian probably won’t be back (he could join Casey in Detroit or, as Sportsnet reported, he could head home to Los Angeles to join the Clippers). Close Nurse friend Nate Bjorkgren, who has been a head coach in the D/G-League and worked under Nurse at Iowa, was hired by the Raptors as an advance scout after he was purged when Phoenix removed Earl Watson last Fall. Other old friends from Iowa or Rio Grande could also come aboard. A report by Italian writer Zeno Pisani had Italians Sergio Scariolo (the Spanish national team head coach) and Andrea Trinchieri (Germany’s coach of the year and a former Greek national team head coach) as potential additions. The highly successful player development staff is under management’s domain.

2. Shift his voice

No, we’re not talking about Nurse doing impersonations or anything like that, we’re referring to the changed role he will have and all that comes with a move of this magnitude. The players know Nurse as a friendly assistant who has been here for five years working closely with them on player development and film analysis. He’s been much more of an encouraging helper than a fierce taskmaster. The head job is far different. He now wields the ultimate hammer: How many minutes each player will get and he’ll be the one calling them out the most in team film sessions when mistakes are made. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will need to buy in (should both be back next season, which is not guaranteed) and then the rest likely follow, but it will be a big adjustment. He’s running the show now and there are tons of responsibilities and changes attached to that title, including dealing with referees, the media, agents, entourages and management more frequently.

3. Dial the dismal defence back up

While Toronto’s overall defensive numbers looked great last season (No. 5 in defensive efficiency), it was a bit of an illusion. The club slipped to 11th after the all-star break in the same category and it’s not a stretch to say the Raptors simply could not contain the NBA’s elite offensive teams all year long. The ugly numbers bear that out. Plus, only two teams fared worse defensively in the playoffs. Nurse will need some help. Masai Ujiri and his staff need to bring aboard more defensive-minded players or nothing will change, and Serge Ibaka needs to figure out what went wrong and how to do a 180. It is a myth that Nurse is primarily an offensive thinker. While his offensive mind does get most of the praise, colleagues say he also is a strong defensive coach. Few one-way specialists exist anymore. In six years as a head coach in the then-D-League, Nurse’s teams ranked 8th, 14th, 1st, 7th, 15th and 7th defensively (usually out of 16 teams). The year after he left Rio Grande, the Vipers slipped from seventh to dead-last defensively.

4. Keep the revolution going

The Raptors did fine work in going from an isolation-heavy, archaic offensive team to a far more dangerous, modern group of attackers. The 2017-18 results need to just be the start. The Raptors can generate even more quality shot opportunities and can still make life on offence easier with more movement, more cutting, more misdirection plays and more skill development. If Jonas Valanciunas stays put you can expect him to be utilized more often since he has long been a Nurse favourite, with the two spending plenty of time working together on drills after team practices.

5. Roll with the punches

There will be far more pressure on Nurse than he is used to for a number of reasons. All of the regular season success needs to continue, but there will be talk all year about the playoffs and wondering if this team can yield different results under Nurse. He will have to maintain his focus and his message, something Casey was a master at doing. He will also have a target on his back because of Casey’s success and popularity with the media, team ownership and much of the fan base. He might have less overall talent to work with — if one of the all-stars is dealt, if Fred VanVleet signs with another club or if Valanciunas or Norman Powell are lost in a salary dump — and he will likely be dealing with a much better Eastern Conference than we’ve seen in recent years.

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